Resurgent Goalie Sparks Seattle Kraken’s Rise

The Martin Jones reclamation project provides the foundation of an unanticipated strong start by the Seattle Kraken. The two-year-old franchise boasts the NHL’s sixth-best record (12-5-5).

Last season, the Kraken were 30th out of 32 NHL teams.

The Kraken expected Jones to be a backup, not a key performer, when they signed him last July. Jones hadn’t posted a save percentage above .900 or a goals-against average below 3.00 since 2017-18. Last season, he was 12-18-3 with 3.42 GAA and a .900 save percentage for a struggling Philadelphia Flyers team.

No NHL goalie has made more appearances than Jones (17 games, 16 starts) this season. He’s tied for eighth with nine quality starts. He owns a 2.58 GAA for a team that ranked 24th in the NHL last season for goals-against.

The Kraken have won five in a row, and Jones is 8-1-1 in his last 10 starts.

Coach Dave Hakstol says Jones’ numbers don’t tell the real story about his start. Hakstol says Jones’ strength is his ability to make big saves at the right times.

The Kraken rank 10th in the NHL this season in GAA (2.86) and third in giving up high-danger scoring chances; giving up an average of 5.21 high-danger chances per game.

Seattle isn’t all defense. The Kraken rank sixth in goals at 3.57 goals per game, despite having no player higher than 55th in the NHL scoring race. Offseason acquisition Andre Burakovsky leads the Kraken with 21 points in 21 games. Rising young star Matty Beniers is second with 18 points.

It’s too early to know whether the Kraken can sustain this pace. This is a franchise still in its infancy, a toddler in a mature league. But no one believed in the Vegas Golden Knights when they played impressively in their first season. And they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.

🏆 The Bruins set a new NHL record with their 12th straight home win to open the season Friday night. The record-setting victory wasn't a walk in the park as the Bruins rallied back from being down 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes before David Pastrnak blasted a one-timer past Pyotr Kochetkov for the overtime winner.

⏲ Claude Giroux wasted no time last night, scoring just 20 seconds into overtime against the Kings to give the Sens the 3-2 win. The veteran forward was sprung on a breakaway thanks to Tim Stutzle using a spinorama to shield the puck away from Anze Kopitar deep in his zone before sending a long remarkable backhand pass up the ice to Giroux.

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